We made it

Ok all my faithful followers. We made it! Got to LA no problem but then the flight from Atlanta was delayed and we saw over 24 names on the stand by list who were all revenue passengers. So we tried to decide where else we might like to go....Ireland? Scotland? Finland? Amsterdam? We decided Ireland if we didn't make the flight.

Good news/bad news. We got the last two seats on the plane. 10d and 53 C. Do we do rock paper scissors for first class on a 15 hour flight? No, I graciously gave it to Larry for several reasons. One, he flies constantly and never gets to enjoy the perks. Two, he does all the travel planning and should be rewarded in some way. Three, he is 6'3" and needs the leg room more than I do. Actually, it wasn't too bad in the back. We took off around 11:30 Pm so everyone just fell asleep. Then there were about 80 movies to choose from.

I watched Hangover, Slumdog Millionaire, and two more that I can't remember. Oh yeah, The Wrestler and now I can't remember. Anyway, we landed at 6:30 am and discovered it was a two week school holiday in Australia so the airport was packed. We didn't make the first two flights so we had to hang out in the airport till 5:30 and made that plane no problem. We thought about taking a train into Sydney but it was $25 a person and we were both sort of out of it. Plus it was raining hard and the clouds were low so the city wasn't all that easy to see. So we did crosswords, slept, walked, talked, sat and didn't talk, read magazines, I did yoga upstairs in a quiet area, we had coffee, sat some more, and finally it was time to get on.

Lost three hours going to Christchurch. So basically we are ahead 18 hours from Utah time and have lost a day and a half, plus another three hours. Dad, want to know which stocks to buy since we know what they'll do?? Lauren, I predict you will do very well on your next test. I can just see it. Sarah, I think you will find a good internship.

Christchurch, it is wet and cold today but supposed to be in the 60's for the rest of the week. So we slept like logs all night, got up,had breakfast (I got mine free cuz' the egg stove was broken). Then we just walked and explored the city. The most fun was grocery shopping. It's so much fun to grocery shop and just see what regular people look like and buy. For one thing, they had coffee and cream in a tube! you squeezed it out, added water, and it was coffee! They had no cereals we recognized. Nothing that was whole wheat. The only bread and bagel choices were white, sesame seed and poppy seed. BUT, they did have fancy pet food. It was in the fridge section in big tubes like Jimmy Dean sausage but 10x that size!! Funny thing is, we've only seen two dogs the entire day we were in the city.

We strolled thru the huge Botanical Gardens which were very nice. We walked thru the Christchurch Museum which had just enough stuff in each room to be interesting. 10 pieces of Egyptian coins and one mummy. Three Japanese swords. A 24 karat gold plated speed bike. A country street. And lots of animal dioramas. Perfect.

Tomorrow we get the rental car and start the adventurous part of the trip. We head first to Twizel. From here the scenery and landscape is supposed to get stunning. Hard to tell distances here because the roads are narrow and twist and turn but we shouldn't be in the car too long before we hike or get out to take photographs.

The hotel was very simple but nice. I was super tired and so was dad but the pillow was perfect. Just the right amount of softness.And they had the kind of comforter I like. Surprisingly, we both slept all night long and didn't wake up till 8 am. So the jet lag has really been minimal.

Lunch-Thai food. Dinner-Indian food. It's typical English type buildings and restaurant choices, at least here. Tomorrow night we're at a working farm with a B & B so maybe we'll finally get some fresh lamb.

Glad I brought my fleece. And Lauren, I wore my Dansko's on the plane and walked all day in them. They are fantastic!! Very comfortable. And thanks again for the mini Ipod, it's very nice. Sarah, thanks for the luck you sent our way. We did make it which is nice. Now we can relax a bit before it's time to return.

Finding an Internet cafe might not be that easy from here on out so not sure how updated I can keep my very fascinating blog. We are well and happy to be on the road but it's hard not to keep in touch with the girls. Love to all. Terry